Canadian pop and country have come together on the new (Derik Baker) single, this sucks. (three #1 singles at Canadian country radio) joins the track as a featured artist, showing off her pop chops that we first heard in the remix to These Days.
It's a fantastic and unexpected collaboration on a song that hits your feelings but keeps the same pop-driven, foot-tapping, uptempo groove we're used to from the Toronto artist who claimed the second most played Canadian artist at radio (behind the Weeknd) in 2020.
The song's premise goes like this via Derik, "this sucks is a song about what seeing an ex with someone else does to you. You're happy for them because you once loved them, but the only words you can find to explain how you're feeling are 'Wow, this really sucks right now.'" It's simple really. And whether it's at a party or on Instagram, a lot of people can relate.
Listen to this sucks now.
The $64,000 question of course is, how did country artist MacKenzie Porter land on this pop track with Virginia to Vegas?
Here's what Derik says, "I remember driving from my house to the grocery store and hearing MacKenzie's song on the radio. At that moment I just knew it would be perfect to have her join me as a featured artist on the track." We're assuming he heard the pop remix of These Days which is cool (unless he was listening to country radio, which is also cool) and the rest, as they say, is history.
In the past I've openly campaigned for a Virginia to Vegas x country music collab - but I'll be honest, this isn't how I thought it was going to go. And I'm 100% okay with that because this one works in a big way.
Derik continues his string of great singles (and EPs) over the last year-plus, and MacKenzie gets another chance to introduce herself to a broader audience with pop fans while her country music career continues to boom.
This pairing is Toronto (Virginia to Vegas) with Vegas-style neon lights and Medicine Hat (Porter) with Nashville boots and hat. But mostly, and most importantly, it's good songwriting, a fantastic vocal fit, and a catchy track to usher us from summer to fall.
Check out the dating show themed official music video (complete with face punching) for this sucks now, and keep an eye on both of these Canadian artists, they're on the way up.
Virginia to Vegas, MacKenzie Porter - this sucks.
